1 Havoc's Gym

I'm so screwed. I can't find my pills anywhere. Feels like I've been searching for hours, tearing my room apart and still nothing. If there is a god, pray he helps me find these stupid things. I was searching with a fine tooth comb through all of my dresser drawers for the 5th time tonight when I heard my dad,Henry, speak to me through the door.

"Nia? Are you still in your room? I thought you wanted to order something fancy for dinner? Can't eat through the door ,child."

Crap! Henry got sushi rolls from Lei Pungs, my absolute favorite! My stomach growls as if to remind me that I might as well have a good meal before dying. Better think fast. We always have dinner together before he goes to work.

"I know dad. I'll be coming down later. I'm having feminine cramps." I hated lying to Henry but if I needed to, this one usually sent him running for the hills.

"O-oh, uh. Alright. I'll see you later Princess. I'll leave the care package by the door if you need anything heavy. Take your pills, stay inside and I'll see you in the morning!" I heard his heavy footsteps leading away from the door and downstairs.

Henry Ray Allen was a giant of a man, standing at 6'5 and 280lbs of muscle. He looked like a slightly smaller version of Shaq but was closer to Luke Cage.

Me, I'm the opposite. A tiny thing at just barely 5ft nothing and 95lbs soaking wet. I had a cute face with dimples that could light up the whole room. My skin was smooth and the color of raw honey. Long raven hair on my head,cascading down in loose curls all the way to my hips. I wasn't allowed to go out much on my own so most of my time was spent working out and practicing various fighting moves my father would teach me. So far he's taught me Karate,Jiu Jitsu and Muay Thai. Meaning I've at least got some muscles and look fit, particularly my midsection which sports a hard earned 6-pack. I may not have giant boobs or a super fat butt, but I'm proportioned well enough…at least I think so. Maybe I'm not so different from Henry in the muscle department after all.

But I still have to take medication to function and he doesn't. Speaking of those blasted things, I still haven't found them!

I'm so dead.

I open the door once I hear Henry's car leave the driveway, sighing with relief. Heading downstairs I go over my options.I normally wouldn't be tripping over this, believe me, but I've been searching for these pills for three days now. Should I have said something to him before? Of course I should have but I'm in too deep now. My only solution is to go to the pharmacy and order some more.

I'm not supposed to leave the house though.

Desperate times call for desperate measures…to hell with it.

I left the house in a teal and black workout outfit and a long coat. It was about 50 degrees fahrenheit outside today and I could not stand the cold at all. It didn't help that Lepi's Grove was a small mountain valley resort town nestled next to one of the great lakes, population of 50,000. My dad moves us around a lot because of his work but I never get to pick the destination. I'm just along for the ride.

Just once I'd like to be in control of what happens to me though. Maybe that's what's happening now.

Our house was hidden down a long dirt path that opened up directly next to the town's bridge leading out of town. Might as well jog down it and the bridge. Once I'm at the end I slow my walk hoping no one pays me any extra attention. We've lived there for almost two years now though I do not normally go out unless I am with my father.

Lepi's Grove is certainly nice. Its architecture is old but well maintained. The streets recently paved over although most of the novelty or specialty shops are closed down this time of year. The people here were warm and friendly so it was hard not to wave back when they waved at you. Thankfully the pharmacy wasn't too far of a walk and I could get there before the sun set for the day.

Lepi's Pharmacy reminded me of an old lady's house. It smelled of mints and mothballs and had outdated duckling-wearing-a-doctor's-coat wallpaper. Questionable but also part of its charm. I hurried past the shelves of various snacks and ointments to rush to the counter. A sleepy looking man stood behind the counter ,measuring out pills. I waited until he'd finished bagging up a prescription to ring the bell. He lumbered over in my direction looking tired and malnourished. His nametag said Dave.

"Yesss? Can I help you?" He drew that out like he was a snake in human clothing.

"Um,excuse me sir. I was wondering if I could have a prescription filled? Under the name Nia Allen."

"Date of birth?"

"2-15-03" I answered in a bit of a rush.

Dave prattled away on the computer for a while. He yawned and squinted at the screen before turning to me with a frown. "I'm sorry ma'am. That medication is out until next week. It's a specialty medication that has to be flown in from the other side of the world."

"Other side of the world?! But I need it sooner than that! Is there anything that can substitute it or something?" This situation just went from bad to worse.

Dave shook his head no. "Unfortunately not. Only one company makes this medication and it's overseas.I can put in a note to expedite it but I've only filled this medication for you and it takes time to get here. Luckily I saw we were out of it and ordered some a couple days ago."

"So what day exactly can I expect it to get here?"

"My best guess would be on Tuesday. That's when we usually get all our shipments.I looked at the inventory for our sister stores and they were also out. I even called around to the big names like CVS and Walgreens, they don't even carry this medication." Dave yawned and shut down his computer.

"It's Saturday. I've gone three days without my medicine and I'd have to go another three before it gets here? Oh god. What kind of side effects can I expect to see without it?" I should have said something earlier to my dad.

I could feel and hear my heart pounding at an incredibly fast pace. It felt like it would explode at any minute.

Dave just looked at me with sympathetic eyes."Nia. Your best bet is to try to stay calm. The medication you're on is to control panic attacks and raise your serotonin levels. I take it you have a history of very bad ones if your doctor prescribed such a potent medication to you. Go home. Do nothing strenuous or dangerous for the next few days. You'll survive until tuesday."

"And if I can't remain calm until Tuesday?" I felt like I was panicking now. Yeah, no, I was definitely panicking now. I was one step away from hyperventilating.

"Nia. Talk to your father. Call him up and tell him what's going on. If you find you're unable to keep calm even after all that then go to the hospital." It was past closing time,when had it gotten that late?He started closing up shop next.

I sighed, steadying myself and my breathing,a technique my father taught me when I was little. If you can control your breathing then you are one step closer to controlling your emotions."Ok…ok thanks Dave." I waved goodbye at him and left the little store.

Keep calm he says. Call Henry, he says. As if these things are easy to do now. The only thing I can do when I'm like this is go workout. I turned towards the path to go back home when my eyes spotted a gym hidden away in an alley.(end of part 1/issue 1)

Havoc's Gym, "Youth get free membership" were the words written underneath the newish looking sign. I'm not sure what counts as youth but It couldn't hurt to go talk to them at the very least.

As I entered the bigger-on-the-inside-than-outside gym,I had the strangest feeling that someone was watching me. When I turned around though,there was no one there. Spooky.